I can feel everything.
Small glimmers of memory flush his mind.
What's this? Is that who I am? Asher?.
He wondered about the few memories he had now and about his name. He stayed there all night, watching the fox and concealing it in his shadow from predators. He didn't know he was doing that.
Everything a jungle cat or a snake walked by, he'd jump on the fox to hide it. Even in rain he had covered it, not only shielding it from the rain but also rain monsters and ghosts.
In the morning, as the sun shined down on him through the leaves, he felt weaker and weaker and soon docile.
He could move but slowly and he didn't want to move as he still had to watch the fox. It hadn't woken up yet.
The sunlight began to affect him. He too felt sleepy and tired. It burned him but not as much as before. Everything felt different, now that he had some food.
He slowly fades away while the fox wakes up. He couldn't tell he was too tired to keep his eyes open, too tired to hear the fox shake the rain water of his fur.
The fox walked up to him, casting its shadow over him. He slowly felt more energized again, he slowly opened his eyes to see the fox sniffing him, he panicked.
He's gonna eat me!
The fox tilted its head and began locking him
What!
Do you like me?
But I stole from you?
The fox nodded
It's because I didn't kill you.
The fox nodded again.
Well alright then, I've paid for the energy we're even now.
Asher moves away from it, scurrying into the shades. He planned to stay in the shadows of the bushes and make his way out of the jungle.
The fox ran after him, Asher screamed.
What do you want, Fox?
It just kept wagging its tail.
You can go away now, we're even, okay even stevens.
The fox nodded and barked
No, that's not it. I wasn't giving you a name! Go away!
Asher ran through the bushes keeping himself within the shadows. He was trying to escape the fox but it kept chasing him.
The journey will be a lot longer if I stay in the shadows and there's no telling how much energy I've got left.
Asher's two dimensional form was just a large black dot on the ground with tiny arms on each side. With these arms he pulled himself on the ground.
With this sort of form it was easy to slide through obstacles, and it made his movement swift. Due to his loss of memory he couldn't remember how he got this form, let alone how to use it well.
The fox continued chasing after him.
Stop it you stupid fox, what does it want from me?
Asher turned back screaming at the fox, he didn't know when he ran out of bushes to shade him for the sun.
He ran into an open marsh lane with dead trees and murky waters all round, he could see a tree big enough to shade him for what seemed like miles
The terrain itself wasn't encouraging, it was muddy and water land. For a creature that relied on swift movement for its survival, this wasn't the terrain for that and while the sun was out it was beyond impossible.
The fox came after him and he scurried around for cover to hide from it.
How do I get out of this?
His movement slowly shrunk, till he became too slowly to move any further
The sun wasn't as its hottest yet. Asher slowly pulled himself towards the shadow of a tree but he was too far from the shadows and the intense sunlight was getting to him.
I'm gonna burn if I stay here any longer.
The fox stops its chase as it sees Asher almost docile, it slowly walks up to him.
My you're persistent.
Asher said. He could barely remain conscious now then the fox got close to him and its shadow was cast over him.
Almost immediately Asher sprang to life and the fox began licking it.
Okay, Thank you, you can stop now with the slobbering.
I guess you won't let me be.
The fox barked
Asher said as he looked at the fox, he turned back towards the marsh lands.
He looked around and as far as the eyes could see was all marsh land and at the other side was the forest.
There's no getting around it. I'll be better to go straight. But I can't walk across
The fox bark
What? Will you help me?
The fox gave an excited bark and started running into the marsh lands.
Hey! Not with out me steven
The fox turned around and ran back to him
Could I cling to you perhaps
The fox nodded. Asher jump on him and cling on its other side, the side away from direct sunlight
The sun will go overhead soon. Will have to be out of the mashes by then
Asher gripped tightly to the foxes fur
Alright let's go!
The fox ran into the marshlands, running through the muddy terrain with ease, its past through hollow dead trees and maneuvering past shallow puddles.
Soon they were half way there.
We're getting closer and closer.
Soon they got to a path of the terrain that puzzled the fox. It looked around, from left to right and what laid in front of him was an ambiguous looking pool of water
It seemed muddy underneath but it couldn't tell its depth. Asher looked around and didn't find it trustworthy.
It seemed shallow but it felt like a trap and they weren't sure either way. It was still and the water didn't move even when the wind blew.
The sun was almost overhead, with the sunshine getting to him inch by inch.
Steven, See if there's a way you can get around it.
The fox ran across the back of the muddy pool. Asher looked around as it ran but couldn't find a way across it.
There was a dead tree, a small tree with its body almost buried in the mud pool, what was left of it was a small collection of brittle branches.
Steven looked at that.
The fox yipped, it ran towards it, struggling through the mud. It stopped in front of the dead tree.
Could we use this.
The fox nodded
We have to try either way, the sun is almost over head
The branches look thin and unstable would it hold their weight, they couldn't tell
But they were running at our time.